Promises to Keep
by Sheeana797
Summary: Flashes of memory still light up Konoha. Spoilers for Kakashi Gaiden.


Author: sheeana797  
Title: Promises to Keep  
Rating: PG-13  
Contains Spoilers for: Kakashi Gaiden, and, er, episode 1  
Characters: Yondaime, Yondaime's wife, Kakashi, Rin, Obito, Sandaime, Jiraiya, Naruto  
Pairings: Yondy/Yondy's Wife…maybe a bit of Kakashi/Rin if you look really hard  
Word Count: 1506  
Warnings: None really. Bit of violence, allusions to sex.  
Summary: Flashes of memory still light up Konoha.

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The soon-to-be Fourth Hokage lazed on the tree branch he'd been perched on all morning. He was on a boring mission, and it was doing nothing to calm his nerves for tomorrow's inauguration ceremony. In effect, the man who had hired him as a ninja was paying for an A-Class mission, while this mission probably only warranted C-Class. He sighed. Anything that took him away from his wife wasn't alright in his book.

He was finally jarred from his thoughts when a kunai thudded dully into the wood, about an inch from his face. Now this was getting a bit interesting. He leaped up, grinning.

Ten minutes later, two very frightened thieves were running as fast as they could in the opposite direction. The young man jumped down from the tree, pulled his terrified charge out from where he was hiding in the bushes, and continued on his way.

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The next morning saw a very flustered Hokage-to-be pacing around his apartment. He'd never really been the Hokage before (of course) and so he knew he couldn't yet quite grasp the implications of being the leader of an entire village full of ninjas. He wasn't sure if he was ready for the responsibility (twenty-one is awfully young) or if he could make anyone happy (he knew nothing about politics), and…

"You're going to be late," his wife reminded him with a twinkle in her eyes, "and we can't have that."

He started, grinned sheepishly, kissed her, and was gone in a flash.

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As he gazed over the village, his village now, the new Hokage felt a strange calm fall over him. He looked especially to the masked boy who was learning, slowly, to heal, and the girl who possessed a shocking maturity. He swore, in that moment, never to let them down again.

The village's new leader delivered his speech, giving them his trademark dazzling smile. He waved and told himself he would protect them. The village fell in love.

Rin waved at him happily, and Kakashi watched with his arms crossed. Neither of them had ever been more proud in their life.

Uchiha Obito would have been proud too.

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That night, after the celebration, the new leader and his wife celebrated in their own way in their new house. They whispered quiet affirmations of affection to each other as they made love slowly, long into the night.

The next morning the world seemed a bit brighter to two of Konoha's ninja.

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One month later, the whoop of joy from the Hokage's residence could probably be heard from neighboring countries.

"You're going to be a father," his wife told him again, smiling.

He embraced her as tightly as he could, and thought that nothing could ever be better than this existence.

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"You can't do this anymore!" his wife screamed at him.

"Do what! Protect my village!" he retorted icily.

"You're endangering yourself, and without you, what will _we_ do!" She gestured at her growing belly.

"I'm not going to give up my duties because you're scared!"

After that, he had stormed out of his house. He found himself sitting on top of the head of the Second Hokage, trying to choose between the village that needed him and the wife that needed him just as much.

"Sensei…?" asked Rin hesitantly, coming and sitting next to him. "I heard from your wife…"

He turned towards her.

"It's alright Rin; you don't have to involve yourself."

"No, sensei, it's just…she understands. She's just afraid." Rin smiled at him reassuringly, then stood and departed. _Trust Rin to be the healer_, he thought wryly.

The Fourth Hokage returned home that evening with flowers and a quiet apology. He and his wife held each other for a long time after that, afraid if they let go they'd lose it all.

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One bright morning, the Third Hokage came to check up on his replacement.

"How are you, Hokage-sama?" he asked respectfully.

"I'm fine. So is the village," added the Fourth, beaming at his mentor. "And the wife."

Sarutobi frowned at him. "And what is that you're hiding there?"

"This?" he asked, grinning, "This is nothing!" He hid the note his wife had left him that morning further under the sleeves of his coat.

Old age didn't stop the Third from chasing the Fourth down the hall. Nor did respect, really.

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Kakashi and his teacher watched as the two women laughed with each other, telling some incomprehensible story. The four of them, having somehow managed to find time when none had any missions, were on a shopping trip.

"Sensei…I don't understand women."

The Hokage's smile was full of mirth.

"Don't worry, Kakashi, it never gets any easier."

His wife giggled while Rin gestured wildly.

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Of late his smiles had become strained, though few noticed. Between the stress of being a ninja and running a village full of ninjas (the stress brought on by his pregnant wife notwithstanding) he rarely got even a moment's rest, and those were plagued by troubled thoughts. What if war broke out again, what if Orochimaru decided to come back, what if he wasn't fast enough, what if his wife…no, he couldn't think that. He leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on his desk, and tried to remember what it was like to be carefree.

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On one of those rare days when there was nothing to be done, the Hokage went fishing with his old teacher. They went deep into the forest, sat by the stream, and for three hours, neither said a word.

"Sensei, are you still writing that trash?" he finally asked.

"Trash! It's fine literature!"

"If you call that fine literature, I'd hate to see trash by your standards!"

They danced around the issue all afternoon, until Jiraiya finally said, "I'm not coming back, you know."

The Hokage thought about it for awhile, and then said, "I know." He flashed his teacher a grin.

Jiraiya was the only person to see that smile and think how young it made his student look.

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That night he dreamed in three colors: black, white and red. The stones would crush Obito beneath them and no, no, he couldn't get there fast enough, not again, but it was too late and the rocks came crashing down. In his dream, however, he watched his beloved student die slowly, screaming in pain, begging for someone to end it. Kakashi and Rin stood on the edges of the dream, imploring their teacher to save their friend, and it was all he could do not to retch in disgust at his own weakness. Blood poured from Obito's lost eye, and the same blood coursed down Kakashi's face, and they all blended together until he awakened, choking on his sobs.

His wife watched him leave the bed that night, but made no move to stop him.

He slipped through the darkness until he reached his target. He stood before the looming stone that represented every sacrifice his village had ever known. His fingers ran down the smooth, cool surface until they reached what they sought: the characters of a name.

Uchiha Obito. Uchiha Obito. Uchiha Obito. The words repeated endlessly in his mind. He traced it over and over again until he had memorized every nuance of the strokes.

Just before the sun rose the next morning, Kakashi appeared at the Memorial Stone to find his teacher leaning against it. Their eyes met, and a thousand understandings passed between them.

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The moment when the Fourth Hokage picked up his son was the happiest moment of his life. For a few seconds, all the fear of the Kyuubi just drained away. His wife watched her husband and child tenderly.

Then their world was ripped apart by the demon fox.

He felt himself hit the wall and he clutched his son close. When he could stand again, he saw that the place where his wife's bed had been was buried by rubble. He realized that there was no way she could have survived it. Naruto cried in his arms, while he was oddly calm, knowing that there was no time for tears. For him, there would never again be time for tears.

He hoped Naruto would cry twice as loud to make up for him.

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As he stood on the back of Gamabunta, Konoha's Hokage knew he would protect his village. There was no way to apologize to his son for what he would do; he could only hope the boy would understand. He began to prepare his last jutsu.

He wondered briefly if he would see Obito where he was going.

His hands flickered, forming the seals.

All he could think about now was that he'd sworn never to let Kakashi and Rin down again, and here he was dying.

Then tiny Naruto squirmed in his arms, and the Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Village of the Leaf smiled fiercely one final time. His son, he knew, would _never_ break his promises.

"_I never go back on my word…because that's my way of the ninja!"_ – Uzumaki Naruto


End file.
